Dan Khao – Our Guide

Dan Khao is a small area on the Koh Chang east coast near the ferry piers. Not previously featuring on anyone’s radar other than keen cartographers, it is now a name bandied about with far more regularity due to the increasing popularity of its handful of quiet getaway resorts.

Dan Khao – Top End

Dan Khao starts at Centerpoint Ferry Pier, with another old slipway next door to it, just after the recently planted pineapple fields. This slipway is where foot passengers used to arrive on the island via the fishing boat ferry, with rucksacks and backpackers alike unceremoniously piled up in any of its available space. Nowadays, everyone uses the car ferries and that boat has long since ceased to exist.

Dan Khao – The Main Resorts

Around the next bend is the main area of Dan Khao. There are three resorts, Amber Sands, The Souk and Serenity Resort fronting onto the gritty red sand beach overlooking the mainland. The east coast beaches are all of a similar style, one you also find on the east coast of Koh Mak, so don’t expect to be on a towel sunbathing. It’s very relaxing and peaceful though and you can head out to sea on a kayak or at low tide, explore the coast on foot, so there’s still plenty to do.

The South African owned and immaculately kept Amber Sands has just ten or so rooms with a swimming pool. It’s very popular in TripAdvisor, with its quiet unassuming atmosphere offering a real contrast to the hurly burly of the west coast. Next door, The Souk with its whitewashed cabanas is run by local Thais and it too has a loyal following of returning guests. The cocktail bar is well worth a visit. Serenity Resort is the newest addition on the row with half a dozen or so of its own stylish bungalows.

A homestay on stilts sits at the far end, with one or two new bungalows under construction. Though primarily aimed at Thai weekenders, they are happy to accept foreign guests, with its large share rooms a cheap and cheerful option for a group of backpackers.

Dan Khao – The Final Stretch

Continuing on along the road, look out for Blessed, a funky artist inspired house and bungalow for rent, complete with its own small beach. Garden of Joy has changed hands in the last year, 20 bungalows under the trees with a small swimming pool, beachfront and even its own Italian restaurant. At the far end of Dan Khao before you head out down the coast to Dan Mai, Baan Talay Thai, a small understated Koh Chang housing development, has a mixture of private houses and holiday villas, some with swimming pools.

Dan Khao – Restaurants

Outside of the the resorts themselves, there are just a couple of very simple places to eat up by the road above Amber Sands. You’ll find also a tiny coffee shop back towards the ferry opposite the island’s electricity headquarters but that is your lot.

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